Soccer

Bundesliga 2012, Week 28 Preview And Fixtures: Can Gladbach Find Their Sparkling Form Again?

Borussia Mönchengladbach have struggled in recent weeks. Will they bounce back soon?

Mar 30, 2012, 4:04 AM UTC

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Gladbach Are Freeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Free Fallin’

Yup. I used a lame Tom Petty reference there. No. Petty is not lame. Free Fallin’ is not one of his better songs. No, your opinion doesn’t matter here. Will I still sing it when it comes on the radio? Yes. Yes I will. Anyway ...

This is the eleventh match since the winter break. Let’s break down Gladbach’s start to the Rückrunde: 10 matches, 5 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses.

It doesn’t look that bad, but let’s look at it just a little bit closer. The last five matches have only seen one win. They’re not on the greatest run of form right now. They’ve fallen to fourth place and two points behind Schalke. Remarkably, they’re still eleven points in front of fifth place Bayer Leverkusen.

Now, the sky isn’t falling for Gladbach. Patrick Herrmann is back! Yes, I know he has been back for a week or two now, but he will really be back in the next week or two. I expect we’ll see Herrmann, Juan Arango, Marco Reus and Mike Hanke get back into form soon.

Is Dante’s head turned to Bayern Munich? There were stories this week and last that the Brazilian centerback was signing a pre-contract to join Bayern in the summer. What did Dante do in the semifinal of the DFB-Pokal against Bayern? He blasted it over the goal, of course.

He and the rest of the defense need to find their focus for this weekend’s match in Hannover. After allowing only 15 goals in their first 25 matches, the defense was being lauded as the best in the country. Their last two matches have seen them uncharacteristically surrender three goals. Getting the defense back into top form is the top priority if the club has any hope of finishing ahead of Schalke in one of the three automatic Champions League group stage places for next season.